Ratchet winding mechanism.



J. F. O'CONNOR.

RATCHET WINDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-8,19IB.

0Q O 1 r 2 m y M M N w 0 F A m nu P w v 4 5 i 5 w 2 N 7 1 w uwmv flflnHHHHHHI 1 l y? i1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFEGE.

JOHN F. 0CONNOR, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIeNon T0 WILLIAM H. MINER, orCHAZY, NEW YORK.

RATCHE'I WINDING MECHANISM.-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 22,1918.

Application filed J'anuary 8, 1918. Serial No. 210,888.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. OCoNNoR, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Ratchet WindingMechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in ratchet winding mechanism.

The object of the invention is to provide a ratchet form of windingmechanism, more particularly adapted for use in hand brakes of railwaycars for tightening the brake chains and is so designed aS to providelarge wearing areas on the engaging parts to thereby prolong the life ofthe device and also so arranged as to effect release of the brake chainwith the relatively slighteifort on the part of the operator. 7 p

In the drawing forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a sideelevation of one form of mechanism embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 isa central vertical, sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig.1

showing the same as embodied in a hand brake of a railway car. Figs. 3and 4 are vertical, sectional. views taken on the lines 33 and 44 ofFig. 2. Fig. 5 is an end view of a locking plate. And Fig.6 is a detailsectional view to more clearly illustrate the manner of disengaging thepawl and looking plates as hereinafter described. In said drawing, 10denotes the end'or other wall of a box car to which my improvedmechanism is attached. The winding mechanism, as shown, includes ahollow cylindrical combined housing and bearing casting 11 having aninnerplate 12 seated against the wall 10 of the car. The casting 11 maybe provided with suitable lugs or ears 13 by which it canrbe riveted tothecar. At its outer end, the casting 11 is provided with a hollowjournal bearing 14 and at its inner end with a corresponding bearingloto thereby rotatably supportfa chain winding drum 16 to which the brakechain 17 is adapted to be attached. .As will be understood, the casting11 isisuitably at the bottom, as indicatedat 18 to permit the entranceof the chain v17. p I g A rotatable T member or drum 16 has an extendedsquared end section 19 0i1 whichis non-rotatably fitted a double facedratchet wheel 20. The ratchet wheel 20 is not only prevented fromrotative movement with respect to the drum 16' but is also preventedfrom relative axial movement through the shoulder 21 formed on the drum,the washer 22 and spring follower plate 23. The exterior of the journalbearing 14 is made of non-circular form and preferably hexagonal, asindicated at 24 in Fig. 4. Fitted on the hexagonal portion 24 is alocking plate or dog 25 which is axially movable but non-rotatable. Thelocking plate 25 is provided on its outer face with a series of ratchetteeth 26 that are adapted to cooperate with corresponding ratchet teeth27 on the inner face of the ratchet wheel 20. The locking plate 25 isnormally held in its outer position by means of a spring 28 interposedbetween it and the end wall 29 of the housing casting 11. It is apparentthat the ratchet wheel 20 and consequently the chain tightening drum 16will be held against rotation when the locking plate 25 is in engagementwith the ratchet wheel 20.

The ratchet wheel 20 on its outer sidecooperate with a Corresponding setof ratchet teeth 36 on the outer face of the ratchet wheel 20.

The flange 32 is provided with suitable recesses 37 at diametricallyopposite points thereon to receive what maybe termed double acting camlugs 38 .at the upper forked ends of an operat ng lever 39 whichnormally hangs in a depending posit on. The

-lugs-88 are of substant ally rectangular formation, as clearlyindicated in section 1n Fig. 6 and when the lever 39 is in a planeperpendicular to the axes of the rotating parts of the windingmechanism. the lug assumes the position shown in Fig. 6. When the lever.39 is swung to either side of said plane, that is, from either side ofvertical as illustrated in the drawing. it isjapparent thatthe lugs 38will tend to force apart the pawl acting plate 31-and the locking platenae 25. as shown by the dotted positions in Fig. 6.

In operating my device, the operator swings the lever 39 in thedirection indicated by the arrow a in Fig. 1, it being understood thatthe lever is maintained in a vertical plane during this operation. Asthe lever is thus moved, the pawl acting wheel 31 will rotate in unisontherewith and on account of the arrangement of cooperating teeth 35 and86, the ratchet wheel 20 and the drum 16 will be similarly rotate-d. Atthe end of this movement, the ratchet wheel 20 will be locked by meansof the locking plate 25, as hereinbetore described. Nhen the operatorswings the lever 39 back to its normal position, the plate 31 will swingwith it and the teeth thereof will slip over the teeth 36 of theratchet-wheel 2O inasmuch asthe plate 81 is yieldable axially againstthe spring 3%. These operations can be repeateduntil the brake chain istightened to the desired degree, ll hen the operator desires to releasethe brake chain, he swings the lever 39 in either direction, asindicated by the arrows bb in Fig. This will first force he pawl actingplate 31 outwardlv against the spring 3% until it is dis engaged fromthe ratchet wheel 20 and thereupon continued swinging movement of thelever 39 will force the locking plate 25 inwardly against the action ofthe spring 29 until the plate 25 is disengaged from the ratchet wheel20, whereupon the latter and the drum 16 are free to rotate in anunwinding direction. In actual practice, the spring 29 will be madesomewhat stronger than the spring 34 to positively insure the foregoingsequence of operations, although this is not absolutely necessarybecause of the fact that, during the release operation, there is nogreat strain upon the plate 31 whereas there is a load on the lockingplate 25. To protect the spring 29, the casting 11 is preferablyprovided with a flange to which extends over the locking plate 25, asclearly shown in Fig. 2, and it will also be noticed that the springfollower plate 28 has a marginal flange ll to cover and retain thespring 3%. The washer 22 is held in position bv bolt 4-2 which extendsthrough it and also through the drum 16. Said bolt 42 also serves toretain the end link of the chain after it has been hooked in position onthe drum 16. By employing a series of teeth on the pawl acting wheel andthe locking wheel. it is evident that a better connection is alwavsobtained between said wheels and the ratchet wheel and also the wear onthe parts is distributed over a much greater area so that the life isthereby prolonged.

I claim: p

1. In a windin mechanism of the character described. the combinationwith a memer to be rotated and having a ratchet wheel movable in unisontherewith, of a pawl acting wheel having a series of teeth cooperablewith those of the ratchet wheel, thepawl acting wheel being yieldinglynormally held in engagement with the ratchet wheel, a lever foroscillating the pawl acting wheel, and a yieldingly controllednon-rotatable locking wheel engageable with other teeth of said ratchetwheel, said lever being adapted to disengage the pawl acting wheel andthe locking wheel from the ratchet wheel to release the latter.

2. In a winding mechanism of the'character described, the combinationwith a mem her to be rotated and having a ratchet wheel fixed withrespect thereto, of pawl and loci-:-

ing members cooperable with the ratchetwheel and yieldingly normallyheld in en gagement therewith, said locking member being non-rotatablymounted, a lever for oscillating the pawl member to thereby efiect thewinding movements of the rotatable member, and means for shifting boththe pawl and locking members axially of the ratchet wheel to therebydisengage the lat ter and permit release.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with a memberto be rotated having a double faced ratchet wheel movable in unisontherewith, of a pawl acting wheel coiiperable with the ratchet teeth onone face of said ratchet wheel, a locking wheel cooperable with theratchet teeth on the opposite tace of said ratchet wheel, spring meansnormally holding said pawl acting wheel and locking wheel in engagementwith the ratchet wheel,means for oscillating the pawl acting wheel tothereby efiect the winding movements, and means for disengaging the pawlacting wheel and locking wheel from the ratchet. wheel by shifting thesame axially otthe ratchet wheel. i

l. In a device of the character described, the combination with a memberto be rotated having a ratchet wheel movable in unison therewith andfixed with respect thereto, of pawl and locking members cooperable withsaid ratchet wheel, said locking member be ing held against rotation butadapted for axial movement with respect to the ratchet wheel, said pawlmember being rotatable with respect to the ratchet wheel and alsoaxially movable relatively thereto, and a lever for effectingoscillating movements of the pawl member when the lever is moved in oneplane, said lever being adapted also to separate the pawl and lockingmembers from the ratchet wheel when the lever is shifted'in anotherplane.

5. In mechanism of the character described, the combination with amemberto be rotated having a doublefacedratchet wheel rotatable in unisontherewitln of a pawl acting wheel cooperable withth'e teeth on one faceof the ratchet wheel, a locking wheel coiiperable with the teeth on theopposite face of said ratchet wheel, spring means normally holding saidpawl acting wheel and locking wheel in engagement with said ratchetWheel, and common means for both oscillating the pawl acting wheel toefiect the winding operation and to separate the pawl acting wheel andlocking wheel from the ratchet wheel by axial movement relative thereto.

6. In a chain tightening mechanism for brakes and the like, thecombination with a chain winding drum having a double faced ratchetwheel rotatable in unison therewith, of a pawl acting whee-l cooperablewith the ratchet teeth on one face of said ratchet wheel, spring meansfor yieldingly holding said pawl acting wheel normally in engage mentwith the ratchet wheel, a locking wheel cooperab-le with the ratchetteeth on the opposite face of said ratchet wheel, spring means fornormally yieldingly holding said locking wheel in operative engagementwith the ratchet wheel, means for imparting rotative movement to thepawl acting wheel, and means for forcing said pawl acting wheel andlocking wheel away from each other against the springs associatedtherewith to thereby disengage the same from the ratchet wheel andpermit release of the latter.

7. In a chain winding mechanism adapted for railway car brakes, thecombination with a supporting casting adapted to be secured to a wall ofa car and having a chain winding drum rotatably mounted therein, of adouble faced ratchet wheel non-rotatably mounted on said drum, a springpressed pawl acting wheel cooperable with the ratchet teeth on one faceof said ratchet wheel, a locking wheel cooperable with the ratchet teethon the opposite face of said ratchet wheel, a hand lever for oscillatingthe pawl acting wheel to thereby effect the winding of the chain, saidlever having means cooperable with the pawl acting Wheel and lockingwheel to shift the latter axially with respect to the ratchet wheel tothereby release the latter when the lever is swung in a plane parallelto the axis of the chain winding drum.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my namethis 24th day of Dec, 1917.

JOHN F. OCONNOR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

